The next few installments of Looking Back will focus on celebrations. This
photo shows the Gilman Band, which has gathered on the Fourth of July in 1893,
just one year after the founding of the Town of Gilman (now Issaquah). Among the
items of interest in this photograph are the large Western Red Cedar tree in the
background, the hand split cedar fence to the right and the boardwalk in the
right foreground. It is clear that, at the time, huge cedar trees were in
abundance. Independence Day was a popular holiday for celebrating in the late
1890's, much as it is today. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July
4, 1776, and the first Independence Day celebration was 1777. Of the original 13
colonies, nine voted for the Declaration, two voted against it and one was
undecided and one abstained.
